With several of their most recent projects, like What If…?, Loki, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel Studios has proven that the MCU is steering headfirst into the multiverse and isn’t turning back anytime soon. Their next installment, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is set to dive into the infinite timelines more than any other title so far. The trailer is filled with teases no one had thought would ever be seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let’s take a look at the many mysteries the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer holds. 

The trailer opens with a voiceover from Doctor Strange saying that he dreams the same dream every night before the nightmare begins. While he’s saying this, we see a destroyed Sanctum Sanctorum surrounded by skulls and ash. The inside of the Sanctum looks to just be a staircase leading up into the heavens. Is Doctor Strange getting a glimpse of the future, a different timeline, or is this just simply a dream? If it is the future, how could he see it without the Time Stone? 

There’s an explosion on the roof of Kamar-Taj that hurts a slew of the sorcerers. It seems there’s something or someone attacking, but we don’t see what causes said explosion. This trailer is diving right into the incredible action we can expect to see. 

The trailer then cuts to Strange watching an interesting occurrence that likely takes place in a different dimension. A monster that looks to be made up of mummy bandages and magic energy has someone chained and hanging in midair. That someone is none other than America Chavez. She has the ability to create star-shaped portals that allow her to travel the multiverse. This is definitely the perfect movie to introduce her in. In the comics, she also has superspeed, super strength, and flight, so it’ll be fun to see her join the action. 

America and Strange get sucked into her blue star-shaped portal, and he then wakes up. Did he unknowingly travel the multiverse? Is this all a premonition? Is America trying to contact him from another dimension? These are just a few of the many questions that will be answered once the film finally drops. 

In a very cluttered Sanctorum, Doctor Strange casts a spell and says that he did what he had to do to protect our world. Could this be a reference to the spell he cast at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home? Perhaps there will be major consequences to that that revolve around the multiverse. 

Wong even tells Strange that he can’t control everything. Whatever the central conflict of this movie is, it will almost definitely be a result of Strange’s actions. 

“From Director Sam Raimi” should excite any fan of Marvel films. He directed the Toby McGuire Spider-Man films. The success of those movies helped pave the way for the MCU to eventually be created. 

Wong then blatantly says to Stephen that he opened the door between universes. This confirms that the spells he cast in Spider-Man: No Way Home are causing the conflict for this movie. Doctor Strange must now deal with the consequences of his actions. 

We also see New York City evaporating into a black liquid. If you’ve seen What If…?, then you’d recognize this occurrence as what happened when Doctor Strange attempted to change a fixed point in time. It leads to the end of the universe, so the stakes will likely be higher than ever in our main MCU universe. 

After Wong states we don’t know who or what walked through the doors to other universes that Strange inadvertently created, we get one of the most tragic shots in the trailer. Dr. Christine Palmer, Stephen’s love interest from the first movie, is getting married to someone else. She must have still been around when Stephen was blipped for five years. This further shows us the damage caused by Thanos’s snap. 

Stephen approaches Wanda, a.k.a the Scarlet Witch, in what looks to be the same location we last saw her in WandaVision. Her attire is the best it’s ever looked in live action and matches the source material perfectly. Strange asks her what she knows about the multiverse, so he doesn’t know much himself. 

We then get a glimpse of that attack on the wizards from earlier, but before the explosion happened. Among the sorcerers is a green minotaur, which may be a strange sight for those not familiar with the comics. This is Rintrah, who is a sorcerer from another dimension who trains under Doctor Strange. Hopefully he joins Strange and America in the action. 

A giant dark cloud approaches the sorcerers, and likely means trouble for them. As long as this isn’t another take on Galactus as a cloud, it should be intriguing how this scene plays out. 

Doctor Strange, America, and another character that’s difficult to make out open a submarine door which leads to a different universe. It’s glowing blue like America’s star portal from earlier, so perhaps it’s related to that. 

 Mordo shows his face for the first time since the events of the first Doctor Strange movie, this time with much longer hair. When we first met Mordo, he was more of an ally to Strange. However, he’s considered to be one of his arch nemesis in the source material, so it’ll be interesting to potentially see his more villainous side here. 

After Mordo apologizes to Stephen as if he’s about to murder him, there’s another shot f New York City evaportaing into a black liquid. Mordo then says that Stephen’s desecration of reality cannot go unpunished. It seems that he’s here to ensure that Doctor Strange answers for the accidental destruction of reality due to his irresponsible use of spells.

Strange is promptly shackled and escorted by a group of Ultron robots. Are these evil or good? This could either be a timeline where Ultron won or a timeline in which Tony succeeded in creating Ultron to protect the world like he intended. Either would be genuinely interesting to explore. 

The Ultron robots lead Doctor Strange to meet with a mysterious panel who we don’t get a good look at. This panel is almost definitely the Illuminati. The Illuminati is a secret society made up of superheroes to protect the world by working behind the scenes. In the comics, the team is made up of representatives for different groups within the Marvel universe. Its members are Iron Man of the Avengers, Doctor Strange of the sorcerers and magic-users, Mr. Fantastic who leads the Fantastic Four, Black Bolt the king of the Inhumans, Professor Xavior from the X-Men, and Namor who is the king of Atlantis and the Seven Oceans. Given that many of these characters have yet to be introduced and Iron Man is no longer around, it does make one wonder who will make up the Illuminati here.

In one of the most exciting parts of the trailer, a familiar voice says “We should tell him the truth.” This is the voice of Patrick Stewart, so this most likely means that Professor Xavior from the old X-Men movies will make an appearance. Perhaps this Illuminati is made up of characters from different timelines. Who else could we see here then? Will Ioan Gruffudd make an appearance as Mr.s Fantastic? Only time will tell. I do hope the MCU still has their own version of Professor Xavior and that it’s not just the same that we’ve gotten in other storylines. 

Doctor Strange and America Chavez then fall through more of the multiverse. This includes a universe filled with dinosaurs and one where their flesh is broken up into cubes. They could have a lot of fun creating various wacky universes for us to see. 

In a darker version of the Sanctum Sanctorum, Doctor Strange comes face-to-face with an evil version of himself. This could very well be the evil Doctor Strange who destroyed his own universe in What If…?. If that’s the case, then What If…? Wasn’t just a filler series afterall. Maybe this evil Doctor Strange is the true villain of this movie. 

A mysterious character glowing like Captain Marvel crashes through a stone wall and flies toward Wanda. It’s tough to tell who this is exactly, but fans have speculated that this could be Monica Rameau from a timeline where she’s Captain Marvel. This could introduce a fun way for Marvel to play with their characters in ways they haven’t before.

We then get more shots of Kamar-Taj being attacked. Perhaps the HQ for sorcerers is going to fall. The result of that could be catastrophic. It’s also made clear in this scene that Doctor Strange still wears the Eye of Agamotto despite it no longer holding the Time Stone. The Eye of Agamotto is powered by the Time Stone, so what would even be the point of wearing it? 

A Lovecraftian horror uses its giant tentacles to throw a bus at Doctor Strange and America. This is another of Doctor Strange’s big bads, Shuma-Gorath. He looks terrifying and capable of putting up one heck of a fight. 

The next shot is of Doctor Strange looking up at a statue of himself outside the Sanctum Sanctorum. This is likely in a universe where he remained the Sorcerer Supreme. It could be powerful to see him experience what could have been. 

Wanda faces off against a villainous version of herself. She seems to be getting a glimpse at what could have been as well. She’s seeing what would have happened if she continued on the path she was on in WandaVision and desired more control. 

There’s an extremely quick glimpse of Doctor Strange facing off against Mordo in the same room where he meets the Illuminati. Mordo seems to finally be showing his true colors.

The next several shots are just as quick. We see more of Kamar-Taj in flames, America Chavez punching someone who is hard to see, a sorcerer battling Shuma-Gorath, and a very bloody Wanda. We’ve seen parts of quite a few different action sequences throughout this trailer. Hopefully we’re not seeing them all before we get to see the actual movie. It is worth noting, though, that the action looks extraordinarily entertaining. 

The trailer then ends with an ominous look at what appears to be a zombified Doctor Strange. It’s safe to say that this will mean bad news for whoever has to fight him. This could be the first glimpse at the final battle in the movie. He’s easily one of the creepiest characters we’ve ever seen in the MCU.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be hitting theaters May 6th, so there’s still a bit of a wait until we get answers to all of our burning questions.